Bhubaneswar: Women are breaking the glass ceiling and moving out to pursue their passion in modelling, a career choice considered taboo a few years back.
Wining a beauty pageant title is any girl’s dream and Odisha’s Gargi Kar is living it. Kar is the winner of Mrs India: Queen Of Substance contest.
A woman of substance, she has set herself some high targets to serve society, a passion which she has grown up with.
Kar, a single mother to a 10-year-old boy Karmanya Mishra, has been balancing family and professional life with elan.
Talking about the rigorous schedule and discipline that the contestants had to follow, the 39-year-old from Balangir town said the final day had three rounds – red little dress, cultural and the evening gown or the Q&A round. “Being rooted to my culture, I had always dressed up in long dresses or traditional ones, but I took the little dress as a challenge and wore one really little one with a smile,” said Gargi who is now pursuing M. Tech from Uttarakhand Technical University .
Representing Odisha and its culture at an international platform, she took some very bold and out-of-the-box decisions, walking the ramp in the cultural round wearing a Sambalpuri Saptapar saree like the tribals would and used Konark wheel as a prop.
Sharing an interesting story on designing the prop, Gargi said, “I wanted to make the Konark wheel on my own and I even went ahead with it. But the design needed expert hands for calculations so I took the help of my friends in the university. I carried the foldable prop, which weighs 12 kg to Gurgaon for the contest. The fear that I will not be able to carry the weight on the ramp bothered me for some time but as I walked with the prop, all I could feel was the determination to win, the weight was gone.”
The decision to apply for the contest was just a casual one as the pandemic had made life dull and kept us all indoors. After applying for the competition, the contestants had to send a video talking about their talent and why they wanted to participate. “I worked on the video myself and to my surprise, it received the highest views among the 43 contestants,” she added.
Most of the contestants were highly qualified professionals while only about five of them were home-makers but with a good background in social service, said Gargi.
The software engineer, who has worked with some well-known companies, was active participant in cultural activities since her school days. She had represented Odisha as NCC sergeant and led the Odisha JD platoon in the Republic Day Camp in New Delhi.
Despite the challenges of being a single mother, discipline and valuing time helped her in the competition. Gargi also dabbles in singing, dancing and painting besides stitching. “I have managed to inculcate the essence of time and discipline in my child too and it is his maturity which has helped me to pursue my goals while caring for him at every point,” said Gargi who is also preparing for GATE.
Giving credit to her parents for making her a capable and independent woman, Gargi said both of them are retired school teachers. Her father Dinabandhu was a yoga practitioner. She follows his training to this day to stay healthy. “At least a few minutes of yoga every day is a must for me. My day does not end without the asanas. My mother is the source of my confidence, energy and success,” she said.
Mrs. India: Queen of Substance, the title speaks for itself and the organisers as well as judges were very cordial, she said, adding the contest gave all the participants some Me Too time.
About a career in modelling, she said “I have some offers for acting as well as modelling which I am giving a thought as I do not want to leave any chance. I would like to utilise this opportunity to concentrate on social service which is my first passion. I had worked with some popular clubs in college and I would like to use that experience to reach out to more people and NGOs.”
Sharing insight on her future plans, she said, “This crown is my superpower now and I’ll use it to everyone’s benefit.”
“The finalist sash, best personality, winner sashes and the sparkling crown have added to my confidence and are currently my most prized possessions,” she added.
The contest was organised by Vijay Yadava and Ritika Vinay from August 6-8 at Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon. The show was judged by Mahima Chaudhry, Aman Verma and Anshu Varshney.
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